[NU Sports] PENN STATE TO START VARSITY HOCKEY; BIG TEN TO FOLLOW?

[Beamsley, Jeff]

Hockey is very big in Michigan.  Just talked to a co-worker who is
deeply involved.  He just shipped his high school aged son off to NM to
play for a Junior league team in order to get him exposure to college
and NHL scouts.  The strength of the Canadian Junior league system still
dominates the way that younger players progress in the US too.

He said that the existing college leagues and rivalries will likely make
it difficult for the BT to add hockey as a sport any time soon.  Just
one example is the fact that UNO competes at the Div 1 level, but UNL
only has a club team. 

The only other bit of speculation is that hockey as a junior sport is
growing.  So the number of talented kids looking to continue to play the
sport at the highest levels as they get to college is likely going to
encourage more colleges to explore making the same leap that PSU just
did. 

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
On Behalf Of Mike Nolan
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 10:53 AM
To: Alan Abrahamson
Cc: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com; nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] PENN STATE TO START VARSITY HOCKEY; BIG TEN TO
FOLLOW?

> Cal-Berkeley thinking of cutting 5-7 sports from menu of 27 to save
$10-13
> million annually:
>
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-09-15/sports/24003674_1_million-budget-c
ampus-intercollegiate-athletics
> 
> Against that kind of reality, the notion of adding another
(essentially
> non-revenue) sport becomes a significant math problem.

Yes, that is a major concern.  I've heard rumors that more sports may
get
axed at Iowa State and a couple of other Big XII schools, too.
Personally,
I have concerns over how long Nebraska will continue to field a men's 
gymnastics team now that long-time coach Francis Allen has retired, and 
as I understand it they're getting perilously close to falling below 
the 48 schools that the NCAA has set as the minimum for holding an 
NCAA Championship in a sport.

BTW, I posed the question of the Huskers starting to play ice hockey on
the Husker List, below is what Mike Jaixen, a hockey enthusiast, said.  

The general consensus is that there probably isn't a suitable facility
in Lincoln yet, though there is supposed to be an ice rink attached to 
the new downtown arena that they will be building in Lincoln.  (The 
Huskers will be moving their mens and womens basketball games to that 
venue when it is completed, it seems likely that the women's volleyball 
team may move to a redesigned Bob Devaney Center, the current BB
facility.)  
--
Mike Nolan

Mike Jaixen (http://huskermike.blogspot.com/) wrote:

On my blog, I cover UNO's D-1 hockey program as well, and I've wondered
the same
thing over the years. I'm skeptical that the Big Ten is going to sponsor
hockey.  Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State are
traditional
hockey powers who make the NCAA tournament year after year.  I don't see
those
schools wanting to compete with each other in conference play and
possibly risk
an NCAA tournament berth with extra losses.  In college hockey, strength
of
schedule does mean something in setting the post season, but a Big Ten
hockey
conference with those six schools likely mean one of those traditional
powers
wouldn't make the tournament each season.

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